Recomend a digital thermometer

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I just purchased one of these from Amazon and I've got very high hopes for it.

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Very curious as to how well this thermometer works. Have you used it yet?
 
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My previous Cooking Digital Thermometer with Sensor Probe like: http://www.uxsight.com/product/14036/digital-thermometer-with-sensor-probe-for-oven-cooking.html this one. The description stated it could be widely used for air conditioning, food Processing, Heating and ventilating, Agriculture, automobile, photography, food storage, refrigeration, brewing, pharmaceultical, energy management! But I've only used it for cooking meat.
My next choice is similar with original one, but much cheaper than it. Like: http://cgi.ebay.com/Food-Temperatur...=UK_HGKitchen_SmallApp_RL&hash=item5ad8ba889c it.
 
Thermapen.

+1 for the Thermapen.

I did my first All-Grain batch in March, and just completed my fourth batch last Saturday. I bought the floating thermometer, and a weldless Brewmometer that I installed in my 7.5Gal brewpot.

The floating thermometer is a JOKE. At room temperature it is accurate, but when boiling water in my brewpot, the Brewmometer AND my friend's Termapen BOTH read 211°F (I am ~700ft above sealevel, so this reading was accurate) and the floating thermometer read 229°F! I couldn't believe that a thermometer made especially for this purpose could be so erroneous. I bought a Thermapen the next day.

Especially when checking my mash temperature in my 6Gal Igloo cooler (which I cannot do with my Brewmometer), the thermapen works like a CHAMP! Nearly instantaneous, ACCURATE temperature readings at the very tip of the probe means I can 'stab' different areas of my mash and check the readings until I am satisfied.

Normally, I add ~2° to my strike water and then give the mash a GOOD 1 minute stir. I check my temps and stir to cool, if necessary. When the temperature drops to 1° above the mash temp I want, I close the lid and wait. When my 60-90 minute mash is done, I uncover, stir, and check the temperature again before adding my mash-out water. The temperature has always been less than .5° below my target.

Although expensive, in a world where the difference in a few degrees changes the properties of beer so drastically, I think that the Termapen is the single most 'necessary' tool to have for hitting your temps each time, every time.
 
Although expensive, in a world where the difference in a few degrees changes the properties of beer so drastically, I think that the Termapen is the single most 'necessary' tool to have for hitting your temps each time, every time.

While I agree with the idea of this, I bought a separate waterproof probe and meter from Thermoworks for mashing, so that I can put the probe in the mash and monitor my temps without opening the MLT to check on it. I found that opening my cooler to check temps was the #1 cause for it dropping during a mash.
 
FYI - those floating thermometers are not meant for boiling tempatures. I made that mistake on my first one and the red wax in the bottom melted and all of those black beads got loose! I then looked closer at the description of the product and sure enough..."Temperature range: 0-220 F (-10 to 110 C). Length: 9" (23cm)"....... oops
 
FYI - those floating thermometers are not meant for boiling tempatures. I made that mistake on my first one and the red wax in the bottom melted and all of those black beads got loose! I then looked closer at the description of the product and sure enough..."Temperature range: 0-220 F (-10 to 110 C). Length: 9" (23cm)"....... oops

I don't know where you live, but around here my wort boils pretty close to 212F. Are you in a hyperbaric chamber? Maybe brewing on a submarine?
 
Nice catch :D It would be kind of cool brewing in a submarine though...

The other description I found was "The most popular thermometer in brewing, perfect for all-grain. Range 0-110 C, or 20-212 F". Regardless, it might measure up to boiling or slightly above boiling temps, but it by no means should be left in the boil as that wax WILL melt and your thermometer will be useless. I use my new one only for the mash cooler, and use a Polder digital for everything else.
 
I'm somewhat of an veteran on this, having been burned by two $40 digital waterproof (but not heatproof past 122f, I found out) thermos. After being told that I wast stupid for not "knowing" that the sheathing on those thermometers was only rated to 122f, even though none of the literature said so, and subsequently writing a scathing letter to the company, they gave me a refund for both failed thermometers. When I spoke to the company that made the failed ones, they said that those were not good for beer brewing, and recommended a "Type K" thermocouple.

So with my refund $$ from the previous failed ones, I purchased this indicator:

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...and a type-K probe (scroll down to "PTFE/FEP Tip Probes", I bought model #113-372-T):

wirettprobe.gif


I drilled a small hole in my mash cooler lid to feed the probe into the mash, and have been very happy with it. You can find the indicator and probe for less $$ on eBay, but after all those failed thermometers, I wanted the peace of mind of a supplier-backed warranty.

I use this exact setup and so far it works perfectly.
 
It might measure up to boiling or slightly above boiling temps, but it by no means should be left in the boil as that wax WILL melt and your thermometer will be useless.

As far as I am concerned it is already useless.

I let the brewpot naturally cool for some time, and when both the Thermapen and Brewmometer read 170°F, the floating thermometer read well over 180°F. When further cooled to room temperature, all three again read the same. I find this 'sliding scale of error' in the floating thermometer to be absurdly counter-productive, even detrimental for brewing beer, and to think they actually MARKET this for such makes me want to stick it up their asses. I think this thermometer should be taken off the market for brewing, or at LEAST provide a maximum error range tolerance on the back. Yeah right - who would buy it for brewing then?

Sure you can use it as an indicator to obtain somewhat of a general idea of temperature, but anyone who wants to mash at the far ends of conversion, say, 141°F for a dry beer or 158°F for a sweet beer using one of these... GOOD LUCK. In fact, I was aiming for a mash temp of 154°F on the partiulcar batch I intended to use it for - it is a good thing I didn't! My mash temp would have been into the 170's - what an awesome and flavorful FIRST batch that would have turned out to be. I probably would have gotten frustrated and scrapped the whole hobby...

Did I get one of the only floating thermometers that was off by such a large margin? Possibly. But I would urge anyone who wants to put the faith of their brew in this device to compare it with another, more reliable thermometer and check the boiling and freezing temp readings first to insure its integrity. I work too hard, wait too long, and put too much effort forth in my brewing to blindly trust a 'thermometer' that doesn't accurately measure temperature.

Sorry to rant - I will go back to work now...
 
While I agree with the idea of this, I bought a separate waterproof probe and meter from Thermoworks for mashing, so that I can put the probe in the mash and monitor my temps without opening the MLT to check on it. I found that opening my cooler to check temps was the #1 cause for it dropping during a mash.

That is a great idea, and I think I will adopt this technique.

For the record, I never open my MLT to check the temp during the mash - I just take another reading before I mash-out to see how much heat I lost during the mash. In my experience, between 0.75°F-1.5°F is lost during a 60 minute mash, which is why I start my mash 1°F above my desired temperature.
 
I wonder if it was the same *****ewhistler that I talked to. Argued with that ******* for 15 minutes...he kept telling me that everyone knows that the cable isn't rated for above 122f. How? Uh, because, it's common sense. Really? So the guy essentially called me an idiot for not knowing a piece of information that is not published anywhere. I was hot, man...so finally I asked him what he was going to be able to do for me, and he said "all I can do is tell you not to submerge the probe in the future". I hung up, wrote a scathing email to their customer service dept., and a nice lady called me a few days later and apologized profusely, and refunded my money for both failed units.

Some people should just not be on the "customer service" side of operations, you know?

I have PEOPLE skills!!!!
 
Pardon my ignorance but the Thermapen only has a 4.5" probe. How will you get a good temp from the center of an all grain mash? Wouldn't you need about 8" to get a good core temp?
 
I know this thread is old but I just don't get why everyone is always recommending the thermopen. The probe is only 4 inches long and you have to hold it in your hand to take a reading. I see the advantages of the quick reading and the accuracy but I do not recall needed to check temps like this. I typically need to know what the temp is doing while a lid is on or my pots are in the oven (i do BIAB and use the oven to help maintain a more constant mash temp). The other critical time for me is when cooling my wort. I have an IC and I have to stir while cooling. It's bad enough having to stir but I couldn't imagine holding a thermopen taking readings all the time with my only free hand. If I had a corded temp unit I could just drop the probe in and look at the readout unit while I stir away. My free hand is typically holding a beer anyways...

Am I missing something?
 
I know this thread is old but I just don't get why everyone is always recommending the thermopen. The probe is only 4 inches long and you have to hold it in your hand to take a reading. I see the advantages of the quick reading and the accuracy but I do not recall needed to check temps like this. I typically need to know what the temp is doing while a lid is on or my pots are in the oven (i do BIAB and use the oven to help maintain a more constant mash temp). The other critical time for me is when cooling my wort. I have an IC and I have to stir while cooling. It's bad enough having to stir but I couldn't imagine holding a thermopen taking readings all the time with my only free hand. If I had a corded temp unit I could just drop the probe in and look at the readout unit while I stir away. My free hand is typically holding a beer anyways...

Am I missing something?

Maybe. The thermopen is a better thermometer than any of the $25
hand held digital thermometers (at least imho).

Whether or not it is worth the price is going to vary a lot among home brewers.
I think it is worth the price.
So much so that for a brewing beginner I would recommend it as a first
thermometer. Even if they give up brewing, they would still have a very
cool thermometer that is useful for grilling.

Any kind of cord on a thermometer introduces limitations. For example
don't get the cord wet, don't kink the cord, keep the cord away from flame.
It makes it difficult to recommend a corded thermometer to someone.

I agree that once you know your equipment and your process, a corded
thermometer (or two) can be much more convenient.
 
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bob352 said:
Maybe. The thermopen is a better thermometer than any of the $25
hand held digital thermometers (at least imho).

Whether or not it is worth the price is going to vary a lot among home brewers.
I think it is worth the price.
So much so that for a brewing beginner I would recommend it as a first
thermometer. Even if they give up brewing, they would still have a very
cool thermometer that is useful for grilling.

Any kind of cord on a thermometer introduces limitations. For example
don't get the cord wet, don't kink the cord, keep the cord away from flame.
It makes it difficult to recommend a corded thermometer to someone.

I agree that once you know your equipment and your process, a corded
thermometer (or two) can be much more convenient.

I am not worried about the cost at all. I am mainly wondering about the practicality. The thermoworks wire thermocouple is waterproof and temp rated to 480 deg. That way, no worries at all at leaving it in the mash ( no lid opening).

Now, the accuracy is like +/- 1.8 Deg F which does pose a problem compared to the thermopen 0.7 deg F accuracy. And I will admit, the thermopen does seem really cool but I just want to make sure I am making the right buy.
 
I use both a Thermopen (the green one) and corded Oregon Scientific (I have 3 of these actually).

I like to use the corded one when I am bring my strike, sparge and boil up to temp. It helps me to not overshoot or have boil overs. It clips to my pocket, belt or pants and stays right with me while I am grinding grain and getting the next step ready. Love it. well worth the price. You can also use it for BBQing which is why I have 3.

I use the Thermopen to check my mash temp after dough in and after mash is complete. I also use it to check the temp of my wort samples.

If you get the probes too deep in the water or wort on the corded one (which I have many times) just throw them in the oven or your grill at about 350F for 20 minutes or so and your back to working again.
 
I use the RT600C from Thermoworks based on a tip from homebrewfinds and I love it. $20 was about as much I was willing to spend. I use it for grilling as well so for me it does double duty for me.

flips
 
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